Cop pleads not guilty to sex assault

Daniel Tepfer

Updated 9:41 pm, Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Trumbull police officer William Ruscoe, accused of sexually assaulting a teenaged girl he met through the Police Department's cadet program, was ordered by a judge Wednesday, March 5, 2104, not to leave the state. Ruscoe, who is charged with second, third and fourth-degree sexual assault and tampering with a witness, has been suspended from the Trumbull Police Department with pay.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Dressed in a gray suit, white shirt and striped tie, Ruscoe, 44, a 19-year veteran of the Trumbull police force, stood before Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin and pleaded not guilty to second-, third- and fourth-degree sexual assault and tampering with a witness.

He chose a jury trial. If convicted of the charges, Ruscoe could face 20 years in prison.

Devlin continued the case to April 28, but agreed to relax previous travel restrictions so Ruscoe can go on a family vacation.

Ruscoe's lawyer, Michael Fitzpatrick, told the judge his client has prepaid plans to travel with his family to California and Nevada later this month.

Both Fitzpatrick and Ruscoe declined comment as they later left the courtroom.

State Police allege that Ruscoe, adviser to the Trumbull Police Cadets, formerly the explorer post, and drill instructor for the annual statewide teen Police Cadet Academy, began texting the teenage girl last March that he wanted to have a sexual relationship with her. He then allegedly texted her naked photographs of himself and his wife and described having sex with his wife to the teen.

State police said Ruscoe later drove the girl to his former Trumbull home, where he handcuffed her and sexually assaulted her.

The girl told police that at one point Ruscoe told her to call him "Jack," as in the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1997 movie "Titanic," according to police reports.

State police said the girl told them Ruscoe visited her many times at Trumbull High School. Trumbull school officials did not return calls for comment.

Ruscoe is suspended from the Police Department with pay, pending an internal investigation.